Lecrae sits down with bestselling author and speaker Francis Chan to unpack what it really looks like to live loved—and fearful—in a culture of hype and insecurity. In this emotionally honest conversation, Francis shares how early loss shaped his urgency for eternity, why he walked away from megachurch fame to pursue authentic community, and how a breakthrough in understanding God’s perfect love radically altered his ministry and personal identity.
This video challenged my understanding of God’s love for me, and I believe it will for you, too. Do you feel as if you have to earn God’s love? Most do, but do you know God’s love for you is beyond understanding? This video has so much profound and necessary teaching, you must watch it..
I don’t think people will realise how important what Francis Chan is saying here. It sounds simple, but a lot of the issues we have are because we don’t fully believe that God loves us. We know the Scriptures, but believing them is another thing.
Not going to lie, this conversation gave me a whole new appreciation for Francis Chan and his ministry. Lecrae may be one of the best interviewers working right now.
How do you line up with Paul’s assessment of people living in his day? Has God given you up “in the lusts of your heart to impurity” If you continue to deny Him and HisgoodnessHe will. Look around you at the beauty of the world He created. You do not take your next breath without Him making it possible. How can you deny His existence? Moreover, your Creator God sent His son, Jesus to become a man to not only reveal the truth about God but also pay the price for the original man and woman’s rebellion (SIN) against God. If this does not reveal His goodness to you nothing will.
“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became foolsand exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, and malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” Romans 1:21-32
God’s love for you is unchanging He loves you regardless of your love for Him. If we focus on achieving love rather than receiving love, we have the gospel backward.
Thank goodness we have examples like Peter who when Jesus was arrested, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Unfortunately, Peter’s passion to defend Jesus when he was present was not evident when Jesus was not present and his own life was threatened. He would soon learn the painful lesson that his love for Jesus was imperfect.
Jesus warned the disciples that each of them would abandon Him. Despite the warning, Peter stood in strong opposition. “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will” (Matthew 26:33). Peter’s overconfidence in his love for God at this moment is striking. He felt that his love for Jesus was unflappable.
Paul once said, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” Romans 12:3
On the night that Jesus stood on trial with the Sanhedrin, a girl approached Peter and insisted that he was one of the disciples. This was followed by several other people who made the same accusation. In each case, Peter vehemently denied knowing Jesus. “I don’t know the man!” he pushed back (Matthew 26:72). Finally, Peter realized that his resolve to love Jesus had failed miserably. He broke down in tears at the realisation.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10
This must have been a tough lesson for Peter, but it also represented the start of an exciting new season. We must all reach the point where we understand our ability to love God is limited to human strength. The believer’s ability to love has been initiated, developed, and strengthened by God; therefore, we must place our confidence securely in the love of Christ. John the apostle said it best: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). The message of the gospel has always been God’s love for humanity, not the other way around.
The moral of the story is simple. We can’t love without first being loved. We are merely conduits of God’s love to the world. Therefore, we must learn Peter’s lesson so that we place no confidence in our love for God. We must rest firmly in God’s love for us. The message of the gospel is clear. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19), not the other way around.
Extracted from the article “Be Confident in God’s Love for You (Not the Other Way Around)’ by Robert Wachter, January 27, 2022 (www.patheos.com)
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 